A new article from the Associated Press reports, “Clerical sex abuse disclosures skyrocket in pope’s Argentina.” The AP found that since 2001, 66 priests, nuns and brothers have been accused of abusing dozens of children. (Bishop-accountability.org lists over 70 abusers.) More than one-third of these accusations were made in just the last two years. They attribute this spike to a “cultural shift” involving victims, prosecutors, and the media.

Pope Francis was archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to his election as pope in 2013. He is on record as saying there was no abuse problem during that time. Even John Allen, author of The Francis Miracle, had the integrity to cast doubt on that claim [Review- The Francis Miracle by John Allen]. The AP notes that Father Nicola Corradi, who was publicly accused of abusing dozens of children in Italy, was brought to Argentina by the future Pope Francis and assigned to a home for deaf and mute children -- where he proceeded to abuse dozens more children. They ask, “how [could] Francis have been unaware of the allegations against Corradi?”

For several years, bishop-accountability.org has documented charges against Pope Francis regarding his tenure as archbishop in Argentina (here). Very few people paid attention to it. Perhaps the tide is turning. Pope Francis’s mantra of “zero tolerance” will not apply to him, but with any luck, it might achieve a degree of credibility.